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[Whatever'sComfortable]

My biggest problem with Origin is the ridiculous pricing on their first party titles.





Heavens forbid you opt for the "Deluxe" version...



£50 for a completely digital title? Go fuck yourself.

What do we have for a comparison though? Valve don't really have any first party titles coming up so it's easy to beat Origin over the head for this.

Witcher 3 was/is £50.00 on Steam? I can't see Half Life 3 not being full price.

Though I assume many people just purchase keys elsewhere now?

 

[BBQMan]

Define place.
Steam is an unnecessary "place" to begin with.

A place where I can launch all the games I have bought and easily communicate with friends, find shit on the internet and publish content without having to alt+tab or boot up another program. Steam fills the roll it was made for in the customers aspect, Origin does not. Hell Steam now has the whole Big Screen feature which would be amazing for those that comfy couch game.

 

[Daviii]

I don't want to ruin the origin hate party, but every game ever created must pay the bills, and have some margin.

Stream being a de facto standard platform for distribution means YOU pay the 30% over the cost+benefit.

30% is a lot to pay for the comfort. Competition to steam is very good as it drives prices of the distribution, and hence, of the games, down. Only Valve losses.

 

[Blizzard]

I'll be installing Origin for the first time ever for Mirror's Edge, as a defeated PC gamer. That was the one thing they could have done to get me there.

That said, I agree that I wish they'd outright say "Yo we want complete control and we want everyone to get in our own store and we don't want to share money", instead of practically trolling people with "where the gamers are" talk, lol.

I don't want to ruin the origin hate party, but every game ever created must pay the bills, and have some margin.

Stream being a de facto standard platform for distribution means YOU pay the 30% over the cost+benefit.

30% is a lot to pay for the comfort. Competition to steam is very good as it drives prices of the distribution, and hence, of the games, down. Only Valve losses.

I don't think the situation is as simple as it seems. What cut does EA take for third parties selling independent games on their store? Not having games on Steam also causes further annoyances as someone pointed out earlier -- there are benefits to having everything in your Steam library. It's nice to be able to choose that AND to be able to choose other stores, rather than having to pick only one.

 

[thunder_snail]

EA's big enough to provide their own service. Why should they pay Valve 30% of sales revenue? Besides, EA actually spends good amount of money and time making decent games these days.

 

[Lanrutcon]

I don't want to ruin the origin hate party, but every game ever created must pay the bills, and have some margin.

Stream being a de facto standard platform for distribution means YOU pay the 30% over the cost+benefit.

30% is a lot to pay for the comfort. Competition to steam is very good as it drives prices of the distribution, and hence, of the games, down. Only Valve losses.

I don't understand this post.

Does the existence of Origin make my Steam games cheaper? When it was launched did all my Steam games suddenly drop in price? If more competing services launch: will companies magically stop charging $60 for new games? Explain things to me like I'm just a guy that plays games.

Competition to Steam does like, only one thing that I can see: I gotta install more stupid shit with another set of credentials I need to remember.

 

[Baron von Loathsome]

... I just have to know:

Has Valve ever tried to put any of its games on Origin?

The only people who want Valve games on Origin are EA.

 

[agiantenemycrab]

As Steam continues its exponential growth EA (and Ubisoft and Rockstar and Bethesda) will eventually come to realize reality: eventually nothing will be able to compete with Steam without being severely disadvantaged.

 

[Rhaknar]

the 30% excuse is completely invalid since EA sells their keys on multiple online retailers like GMG, Gamersgate, Gamespot etc.

if it was just about the 30%, then the ONLY place you should be able to buy EA PC games digitally would be Origin. And that would be completely fine.

What you have here is them singling out 1 in particular, which happens to be the most popular one of course.

The origin client itself is fine btw. Their prices, especially in europe, are not. Also, they have regional sales, which im sure Americans dont give 2 fucks about, but its quite annoying when Origin is running a sala and you go check and "oh its for US only again? well ok then"

 

[Wulfram]

They seem happy to pay companies like GreenManGaming and Amazon 30%.

I believe the issue is DLC. EA wants DLC sales to go only through them, Steam won't agree to that.

 

[Visualante2]

Origin has its own overheads of card processing fees, bandwidth, customer service and development. This isn't a quick and easy cash grab for EA. It's a long term play.

It's possible that the whole thing is still at a loss.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

Competition to steam is very good as it drives prices of the distribution, and hence, of the games, down. Only Valve losses.

"Competition" doesn't mean just showing up doing the bare minimum, and not allowing your product anywhere else.

I'm not mourning Stardocks Impulse for doing the same thing and expecting just being there to be good enough as competition.

 

[toddhunter]

I believe the issue is DLC. EA wants DLC sales to go only through them, Steam won't agree to that.

That has never been true.

 

[Apollo Cree]

As Steam continues its exponential growth EA (and Ubisoft and Rockstar and Bethesda) will eventually come to realize reality: eventually nothing will be able to compete with Steam without being severely disadvantaged.

As it stands, EA, Ubisoft, Bethesda, and Rock star all have games that consistently sell buttloads. When we're talking about major titles, steam needs the developers and not the other way around.

 

[Synth]

You're right, competition is a good thing - and that's exactly what EA's Origin avoiding by not selling EA's titles on Steam leading to zero competition on them between DD platforms essentially. Same can be said about Valve titles absent anywhere but on Steam of course.

That's not avoiding competition... It's not avoiding competition to not send half of your players to go play for the other team.

 

[Wulfram]

That has never been true.

It what way is it untrue?

 

[Rhaknar]

It what way is it untrue?

Mass Effect 1 and 2 have origin only DLC, and the games are on Steam. Thats how

 

[Ogimachi]

His answer is obviously BS, but it doesn't mean their decision was.

DLC is a big chunk of their business. It wasn't about Valve's 30% cut at all, even though it's a valid reason regardless. That wasn't a big deal because EA still had its own stores (in-game or not) to sell DLC and they took 100%.
The whole issue started because Valve demanded publishers to make their DLC available in the Steam Store rather than in-game so they could get their 30% cut, and that must've pushed EA over the edge.

 

[Mit-]

No one wants a different client for every publisher of video games. This strategy does not benefit gamers.

I would buy plenty of EA games if they were on Steam. I still do not own Mass Effect 3 (or played my copies of 1 & 2) and am still holding out hope that one day they give up on it.

At least release games that are 1+ years old on Steam or something. Games live long lives on Steam via sales and the community. I understand the increased first year profits from forcing everyone to your own platform using their excitement for game titles when they first release, but there's no way keeping them exclusive to that platform forever is actually economical.

 

[Wulfram]

Mass Effect 1 and 2 have origin only DLC, and the games are on Steam. Thats how

Because they were released before Steam changed it's policy, and were thus grandfathered in

 

[RipperGrim]

People still play Spore!? It's like 7 years old now and more to the point, it's a 7 year old turd.

 

[Corpekata]

Mass Effect 1 and 2 have origin only DLC, and the games are on Steam. Thats how

Those were before the policies. Dragon Age 2 was removed from Steam on like the day of a piece of DLC being released. Crysis 2 similarly. Crysis 2 only returned after Crytek shut down their store for the game and stopped selling the DLC.

That's a lot of DLC related issues in a short period of time for it to be a coincidence.

 

[cm osi]

Because I'm the paying customer, it should be my choice where I purchase their games. Limiting my choice is in their power, but anti-consumer nevertheless.

no? your right is to purchase the game where you can, not where you want. customers have no effective power on this, it's up to ea to decide if it's worth or not

 

[ebullientprism]

I wish all games did this. Battlefield peaks at around 28K. But there is zero doubt in my mind the games would have a larger player base if they were on steam.



MS persisted with GFWL and we know how that went. EA are hoping that in the long run Origin can be on par with Steam but it wont and in a couple of years it will closed down or rebranded.

No it wont.

Count how many games MS release for GFWL that were first party. Contrast that with Origin.

Sorry but its here to stay.

 

[Cizeta-Moroder]

A place where I can launch all the games I have bought and easily communicate with friends, find shit on the internet and publish content

That place is your personal computer

without having to alt+tab or boot up another program.

That's very arbitrary.

Steam fills the roll it was made for in the customers aspect, Origin does not. Hell Steam now has the whole Big Screen feature which would be amazing for those that comfy couch game.

The vertical integration that followed the DRM outrage is impressive, sure. But it's not inherently beneficial to the consumer.

 

[AHindD]

no? you don't go in a adidas shop and ask them to sell their products on a nike shop, do you?

Sigh. Adidas shops aren't the only shops that sell and stock Adidas shoes.

 

[HF2014]

Titanfall players? They're on Origin. All 40 or so.

Yop. Im kind of raging to see that there is like 1k max player at a time. Its one of the best game iv played. Imagine one second if it was release on steam, god it would change.

 

[Wulfram]

Sigh. Adidas shops aren't the only shops that sell and stock Adidas shoes.

And Origin isn't the only shop that sells EA games

 

[Mit-]

Sigh. Adidas shops aren't the only shops that sell and stock Adidas shoes.

Right. You shop at Foot Locker, which has more stores overall and a wider selection, including both Adidas and Nike.

 

[Synth]

No it wont.

Count how many games MS release for GFWL that were first party. Contrast that with Origin.

Sorry but its here to stay.

MS were also looking for something completely different. They want to sell a service. Once that fell through, putting stuff on GFWL actually became somewhat of a detriment to their main actual platform. If there was no Xbox they probably would have tried to make it work.

 

[demosthenes]

I don't understand the problem people have with Origin.

I just want to have all my stuff on Steam. I don't want to fragment my library.

 

[Sendou]

I wouldn't mind Origin if they actually challenged Steam to be better but indeed that is not the case.

 

[ebullientprism]

Yop. Im kind of raging to see that there is like 1k max player at a time. Its one of the best game iv played. Imagine one second if it was release on steam, god it would change.

Like Evolve?

 

[AHindD]

And Origin isn't the only shop that sells EA games

Yes, but they'll force you to enter their store to use their product.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

The whole issue started because Valve demanded publishers to make their DLC available in the Steam Store rather than in-game so they could get their 30% cut, and that must've pushed EA over the edge.

Its clearly in the customers benefit that games sold on steam also provide that DLC for sale on Steam and there is no way of interpreting that any differently.

There are plenty of avenues where you can buy DLC for steam titles where Valve never get a cut, but EA are literally the only publisher who seem to have a problem with not providing gimped versions of games on Steam.

It's really hard to side with EAs stance as a consumer.

 

[Rhaknar]

That place is your personal computer

so, in the hypothetical chance that Origin made it to consoles, you would be totally ok with having seperate PSN or XBL account to your Origin account, with sepperate acchievements and friends lists and what not.

I mean, afterall, that place, as you put it, would be your Playstation. Ah the joys of having multiple accounts and clients everytime I want to play a different game one day. I can just see it now, Steam, Origin, Batle Net, some sort of Bathesda store, some sort of Activision store, Uplay. Its going to be great

Yes, but they'll force you to enter their store to use their product.

so does Ubisfot, and you can still get their games on steam (for now lol)

 

[BBQMan]

That place is your personal computer

Sure it is but its the program that brings it all together into something that is easy to use and extremely organised. I can see that you are trying to come off smart but you are making incredibly stupid logical leaps.

That's very arbitrary.

Its also the personal prefenrece to a lot of people who play games on their PC. It is extremely convenient.

The vertical integration that followed the DRM outrage is impressive, sure. But it's not inherently beneficial to the consumer.

Its not detrimental either then. Sure you can't sell your games second hand but PC gaming that was never a thing anyway.

No it wont.

Count how many games MS release for GFWL that were first party. Contrast that with Origin.

Sorry but its here to stay.

Heaps of games relied on GFWL that werent first party, first party third party it doesnt matter in the case of GFWL because the games features were locked to it.

 

[Vibranium]

Why can't they include Origin into games that they then release on Steam like Ubisoft? That way they have their service in it still.

 

[benicillin]

Out of all of the different platforms for games and DLC, Origin is probably the least offensive. It's not Steam (or even GoG Galaxy) but it's lightyears ahead of any other competition and I firmly believe that the digital space needs competition, even if it is Origin.

 

[Synth]

Yop. Im kind of raging to see that there is like 1k max player at a time. Its one of the best game iv played. Imagine one second if it was release on steam, god it would change.

Black Ops II is the highest ranked CoD on Steam with ~3k players atm. It probably wouldn't change much.

 

[flaxknuckles]

Why can't they include Origin into games that they then release on Steam like Ubisoft? That way they have their service in it still.

Eew, they might as well not bother and just keep their games on Origin.

 

[Red Hood]

Are we still hating on Origin?

 

[GrandHarrier]

Are we still hating on Origin?

Clicking my Origin icon instead of my Steam icon is rather difficult. As is manually entering those games into my Steam list so I can launch them from there.

On the topic of the thread: Its obvious why they have their own client. They want a full cut and to build their own service. The more competition, in the long run, the better. Just watching this recent Steam sale you're starting to see reductions in the depth of discounts and shady shit like what Rockstar is pulling. How long til these are more common practices?

 

[Red Hood]

Clicking my Origin icon instead of my Steam icon is rather difficult. As is manually entering those games into my Steam list so I can launch them from there.

I'm honestly not bothered and it surprises me others have a lot more trouble to adapt. Maybe it's because I'm relatively new to PC gaming (life long console), but I have no trouble switching whatsoever. In a way I think it's even hypocrite if we just want Valve to have their own thing and forbid others. If I want to play EA games like Mass Effect or Battlefield, I'll open Origin and it logs in automatically. Everything else? Steam. Find a great deal that's nowhere cheaper? GOG. I've made it a reflex that feels very natural.

It's really a non-issue for me.

 

[ChryZ]

no? your right is to purchase the game where you can, not where you want. customers have no effective power on this, it's up to ea to decide if it's worth or not

Customers have all the power, I'm not buying, they're not selling, they lose.

 

[algert]

The statement quoted from that interview was in context of platform availability, not DRM.

 

[Poetic.Injustice]

I don't see a problem with Origin. EA want the full profits and don't want to give a cut to Valve. Same for Mojang who never brought over Minecraft to Steam or Blizzard.

 

[MUnited83]

Clicking my Origin icon instead of my Steam icon is rather difficult. As is manually entering those games into my Steam list so I can launch them from there.

On the topic of the thread: Its obvious why they have their own client. They want a full cut and to build their own service. The more competition, in the long run, the better. Just watching this recent Steam sale you're starting to see reductions in the depth of discounts and shady shit like what Rockstar is pulling. How long til these are more common practices?

I don't think you know how competition works. Also, those practices you talked about are fairly common on every platform for a while now. I'ts not because of Uplay or Origin that shit will stop happening. Hell, it will make it even more frequent.

 

[cm osi]

Customers have all the power, I'm not buying, they're not selling, they lose.

and that's how it works. looks like they're fine with it, for now.

 

[MUnited83]

I don't see a problem with Origin. EA want the full profits and don't want to give a cut to Valve. Same for Mojang who never brought over Minecraft to Steam or Blizzard.

Wrong wrong wrong. Mojang only sells on their site(and retail). Blizzard only sells on their site(and retail):
EA games are not exclusively sold on Origin. They are sold by every single major Digital Download retailer. Every single one of those retailers take a 30% cut.
Once again, the "want the full profits" is a bullshit argument.